Display rack



H. F. TEMPLE Sept. 4, 1956 DISPLAY RACK 2 Sheets-Sheet' 1 Filed Nov. 2,1954 INVENTOR HAROLD E TEMPLE NN Q sept. 4, 1956 Filed Nov. 2, 1954 H.F. TEMPLE DISPLAY RACK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. HAROLD F. TEMPLE iATTORNEYS.

United States Patent O DISPLAY RACK Harold F. Temple, Garden City, N.Y., assignor to P. Lorillard Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation ofNew Jersey Application November 2, 1954, `Serial No. 466,418

3 Claims. (Cl. 211-49) This invention relates to display racks and moreparticularly to racks for holding columns of articles, such as cigarettecartons, in a manner displaying the cartons to their best advantage butat the same time facilitating removal one at a time.

Because cigarettes are marketed by a relatively large number ofmanufacturers under a still larger number of brand names, it becomesnecessary for the purvcyor of this product to maintain a largeinventory. This poses a display and storage problem which, in the caseof self service markets in particular, has been best resolved by meansof display racks arranged to carry all of the popular brands, withprovisions being made for utilizing the space available in the rack moreor less in proportion to the sales volume experienced by a particularpurveyor. Self service racks should be so constituted that derangementof the product by the consumer in extracting one carton is prevented.The racks should also present a pleasing appearance in themselves :andshould enable the product to be displayed in a pleasing manner. On theother hand, the rack should be simple to assemble and stable in itsassembled position.

To these ends, in accordance with the present invention there isprovided Ia rack assembly capable of being dismantled for purposes ofshipment and storage but at the same time so designed that it can beeasily assembled by the user. A rack can be formed'of a pair of sidesdened by continuous metal strips bent to form front, top and back edges`as Well `as legs, with panels being received in the open spaces andwith provisions being made front and back to receive Wire separator andback portions which stabilize the assembly and furnish supports forshelves on which the cartons may be stacked.

The invention and other features and advantages thereof can be betterappreciated from the following disclosure of representative forms of theinvention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a perspective View of an assembled, unloaded rack;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a back and top Wire assembly which ispart of the rack of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a larger and modilied rack assemblyformed in accordance with the present invention..

Referring to Figure 1, a rack is illustrated which is comprised of sideportions and 11 joined lat the back by a combination back .and top.assembly 12, as best seen in Figure 2, and a front or spreader section13. The top Iand right hand sides 10 and 11 which are iden tical, andcorresponding parts of which are identified by like referencecharacters, can be formed of :a single piece of strip material bent toform a vertical front riser 14, a rearwardly and downwardly inclined topsurface 15, a vertical back 16 and a pair of offset leg portions 17 and18. The entire open area above the legs 17 and 18 can be covered by aiiat panel 19 which can carry advertising literature or other decorativeeiects, the panel 19 being secured to the perimeter of the side portionsby rice means such as welding, bolting or the like. The leg portions 17and 18 can be formed in their lower surfaces with openings 20 and 21 inwhich casters 22 and 23 may be mounted in the event it is desired toprovide convenient means for moving the rack assembly from place toplace.

Joining the front and back vertical members 14 and 16 of each of theside portions 10 and 11 are horizontal strap members 24, 25 and 26 whichcan be welded or bolted to the side members and which lare formed withinwardly offset portions 24a, 25a and 26a to receive shelf portionspresently to be described. The strap members 24, 25 and 26 can also havethe side panels 19 secured thereto. Bolted `or welded to the insidesurface of the panels 19 adjacent the back members 16 is a series ofmounting lugs 27 formed with a vertical :axis eye 27a to receive theback and top assembly 12.

The back and top assembly 12, 'as best seen in Figure 2, can comprise arectangular frame portion 28 carrying a series of horizontal wiremembers 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35, the free ends of which aredown-turned, as indicated at 32a for example, to fit within the eyes 0fthe mounting lugs 27. Hinged to the top member 35 of the frame 28 is `ashelf frame 36 which can take the form of a substantially U-shaped wire,the free ends of the legs of which are looped about the top member 35 ina hinge connection. The frame 36 can be crisscrossed by wires 36a todefine a shelf surface. Also hingedly attached to the back frame 28 is asupplementary frame part 37 which can take the form of a substantiallyU-shaped wire member 38, the free ends of the legs of which are loopedabout the horizontal member 33 in a hinge connection. An intermediatetransverse member 39 bridges the leg portions of the frame part 37 andcarries a pair of fasteners 40a and 41a which are adapted to engage thetop member 35 when the frame part 37 is swung into its VVerticalposition.

Hingedly attached to each of the legs of the U-shaped Wire member areside members 42 and 43 which are adapted to be swung into the plane ofthe sides 1i) and 11 when the rack is assembled, with the portions 42and 43 lying inside the corresponding left and righthand frame parts 15.

With the back assembly 12 `and the side portions 10 and 11 in place,shelf assemblies 44 and 45 are seated in the offset portions 24a and 25aof the horizontal straps'24 and 25. To this end, the shelf portions 44and 45, which are identical and like parts of which :are identified bylike reference numbers, may be comprised of a series of parallelhorizontal wire members 46, 47 and 48, the free ends of which are turneddownwardly to loop over the straps 24a and 25a. The top shelf 36 can besimilarly received in the offset portions 26a of the horizontal portions26. Welded to the members 46, 47 and 48 are U-shaped members 49 definingsub-shelves to receive cartons of cigarettes, the free ends of the legsof which are formed in upwardly opening hooks 50 adapted to loop underthe adjacent horizontal Wire members of the back and top assembly 12.Each sub-shelf 49 can be supplemented by a central wire member 51bisecting the U-shaped Wire member and likewise welded to the horizontalor wire members 46, 47 and 48.

The assemblyof the rack `is completed by .means of the spreader or frontassembly 13, which can be cornprised of a series of vertical wires 52,53, 54, 55 and 56 spaced apart by the Width of a carton of cigarettesand bridged top and bottom by horizontal wire members 57a and 57b,respectively. The two pairs of vertical wires at either side of thespreader 13 are bridged by short transverse wires 58, 59, 60 and 61 atpoints intermediate between the shelves 44-45 and 45--36. SingleU-shaped shelves 62, 63, 64 and 65, which can be hinged to thehorizontal members 31'and33 of the back and top assemlbly 12, rest onthe short wires 58, 59, 60'and 61 respective y.

Each of the U-shaped shelf portions 62, 63, 64 and 65 can support ashort column of cigarette cartons to be sold, as can each of theindividual U-shaped shelf portions 49 of the large shelf assemblies 44and 45. The columns of cartons are separated laterally by means of thefront separator assembly 13. If desired, suitable nameplates 66 can beprovided at the front end of each of the individual U-shaped shelfportions to identify the brand of cigarettes supported thereby. Also, alarge nameplate 67 can be attached to the upper surface of the rack toidentify the displayed product generically. If desired, the area boundedby the hinged wing portions 42 and 43 as well as the back member 38 maybe covered by suitablel decorative panels two of which, identiiied bythe numerals 68 and 69, are illustrated.

Referring to Figure 3, a modified rack assembly is shown. This rack isbounded by identical side portions 71 and 72, each of which may beformed of a peripheral metallic strip bent to form a vertical front limb73, a horizontal top limb 74, a vertical back limb 75, and a bottom limb76 formed with two downwardly offset portions 77 and 78 defining legsfor the rack. If desired, the leg portions 77 and 78 can be apertured toreceive casters 79 to render the rack more mobile. The area defined bythe peripheral strip can be covered by a side panel 80 which can beattached, as by welding for eX- ample, to a series of horizontal strapmembers 81, 82, S3, 34 and 85 respectively, the respective ends of whichare offset inwardly, as indicated at 31a and 81h, to detine connectorsfor receiving shelf assemblies presently to be described. The ends ofthe respective horizontal members 81-85 are joined as by welding to thevertical front and back limbs 73 and 75 respectively.

Welded or otherwise attached to the inside surface of the panel 80 alongthe back vertical edge thereof is a series of mounting lugs 86, 87, S8and S9, each of which is formed with an eye for receiving a back portionpresently to be described. lf desired the top portion of the sides 71and 72 above the side panels S0 can be left open, with vertical wire orbar members 90 fitted therein.

The back portion can comprise a series of horizontal wire members 91,92, 93, 94 and 95, the free ends of which are turned downwardly to formhooks 91a through 95a adapted to be received in the corresponding eyesof the lugs 86, S7, 88 and 89. The back portion is completed by means ofa series of vertical members 96, 97 and 98 which can be joined as bywelding to the horizontal members 91 through 95 and by a pair ofdiagonal bracing members 99 and 100, also welded to the vertical as wellas to the horizontal members of the back. The upper end of the backportion, particularly that disposed above the top shelf can be kformedwith a larger number of vertical wires 101 in order to render the topportion of vthe overall assembly more versatile with respect to itsability to accommodate the products to be displayed.

Supported by the horizontal strap members 81, 82, 83, 84 and 85respectively is a series of horizointal shelf assemblies 102, 103, 104,105 and 106. The shelves, which can be identical, are comprised ofhorizontal or transverse wire members 107 and 108 (see shelf assembly103 in particular), the free ends of which are formed with downwardlyextending tip portions '7a and 108a adapted to be received respectively.in the inwardly offset strip portions 82a and 82b. The shelf assembly iscompleted by 4 means of a series of bridging links in the form of wires109,'each of which can be formed with an upwardly offset center portioncoplanar with the supporting wire members 107 and 108.

If preferred, the leading edge of each of the shelves 102 through 106may carry nameplates 110, 111, 112, 113 and 114 to indicate the brand ofthe carton of cigarettes stacked thereabove. A large nameplate 115identifying the general purpose of the display can be carried betweenthe shelves and 106 by attaching to the front limbs 73 of the sideportions 71 and 72.

It will be understood, therefore, that a highly eicient and greatlysimplified rack assembly is provided which can be conveniently knockeddown in order to be stored or shipped in a attened condition but whichcan at the same time be easily set up and stocked with a supply ofcartons of cigarettes in an attractive and efficient fashion.

The invention should not be regarded as limited except as defined by thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. A display rack comprising a pair of sides, a series of shelvessupported by the sides, a back portion joining the sides and including aplurality of vertically spaced horizontal members, a top shelf portionhingedly attached to the uppermost horizontal member, and a supplementalframe portion hinged to an intermediate horizontal member for swingingmovement into the plane of the back portion and extending above thelevel of said top shelf portion, and wing portions hingedly attached tosaid supplemental frame portion to overlie the top shelf.

2. A display rack according to claim 1, said sides extending above theplane of the top shelf portion, said wing portions being disposed withinthe upwardly extending portions of the sides. v

3. A display rackv comprising a pair of sides, each comprising acontinuous metal strip forming front, top, back and bottom portions, aseries of transverse strip members vertically spaced apart and attachedto the front and back portions of each side, panels secured to thetransverse strip members of the respective sides, shelves supported bythe transverse strip members, a front formed of spaced vertical andhorizontal wires and carried by the sides near the front edges thereof,a series of vertically spaced hooks attached to the panels near the backedges thereof, a back formed of a plurality of vertical and horizontalwires, hooks at the ends of the horizontal wires to be received in thehooks of the side panels, a top shelf hinged to the uppermost horizontalwire of the back, said sides extending upward above the plane of the topshelf, and a supplementary wire frame hinged to the back portion belowthe top shelf including a substantially U-shaped wire member, clip meansfor holding the U-shaped wire member in a vertical plane, and wire wingportions hinged to the upright members of the U-shaped portion to bedisposed inside the uppermost portions of the sides, said wing portionsextending upwardly above said uppermost portions of the sides.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,990,046 Mayrose Feb. 5, 1935 2,046,627 Hill July 7, 1936 2,100,548Maxin Nov. 30, 1937 2,315,595 Chappory Apr. 6, 1943 2,502,261 t IrwinMar. 28, 1950 2,680,522 Temple June 8, 1954

